Self-identification

[andrewducker]

I was intrigued by how few people identified as "an introvert" on the previous poll. Looking down the list, it seems to me that the majority of people on my friends list are reasonably introverted - insofar as they get energy from time away fom people, and feel drained by prolonged periods around others, however it seems that they don't feel the same.

So, I'm intrigued how people come out on the Myers-Briggs personality types.

If you've never taken this before then take the test here (takes about five minutes) and report back...

[Poll #1446310]

Comments

[communicator.livejournal.com]

I love Myers-Briggs, but I think one problem it has is that it (kind of) assumes that traits cluster around binary poles - when I suspect that measures may have a normal distribution. So M-B would emphasise introversion vs extroversion, and it's possble most people might be around the middle?

The reason this doesn't discredit the system in my eyes is that (as you say) de facto the descriptions seem to work so well. I've read all types of descriptions of 'myself', from astrology to wevo-psych but ENTP is the only one which was like a flash of light. OMG I'm not a failure as a human being I'm just a minority type!

[andrewducker]

"One study reports that the MBTI dichotomies exhibit good split-half reliability; however, the dichotomy scores are distributed in a bell curve"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myers-Briggs_Type_Indicator#Reliability

And my feelings about it are much the same as yours :->

[endless-psych.livejournal.com]

http://www.skepdic.com/barnum.html

"The Barnum effect is the name given to a type of subjective validation in which a person finds personal meaning in statements that could apply to many people."

http://www.skepdic.com/myersb.html

[andrewducker]

Except that this doesn't apply to MB - it does apply to astrology/fortune telling "You are a person of medium height, who likes cute fluffy animals, hates things that suck, and are constantly thwarted by bureaucracy" - but I've read all of the different MB types - and while there are similarities with ones that are just one type different (ENTP versus INTP) - show me an ESFJ and it doesn't sound like me at all.